overseas or here domestically in voting would be an extraordinary violation of the trust that we should have for those who serve so valiantly. >> shannon: when democrats try to block military ballots in florida in the recount of 2000 it was a political and public relations disaster. until vice presidential nominee lieberman stepped in. >> vice president gore would never authorize or tall rate a strategy that was aimed at disqualifying military ballots. >> military vet who support the president stress this time nobody is trying to prevent service member votes being counted. >> i found it troubling that the republicans would use veterans groups as cover fire for the real mission. the real mission obviously is to restrict people from voting, three days before the election. >> 32 states plus d.c. have some form of early voting so the ohio case could set a major precedent. that's why both campaigns will watch at the next hearing on august 15 in ohio very closely.

shannon? >> shannon: we will talk about it with the panel. ed henry at the white house. thanks, ed. stocks were way up today. the dow gained 217. the s&p 500 finished ahead 26. nasdaq was up 58. there are conflicting signals tonight about where the country is going with jobs. employers added more jobs than expected but the unemployment rate went up as well. white house correspondent wendell goler has the numbers and what they mean. >> reporter: politically there was something in july's employment report for the president and the republican channeler. the 163,000 jobs created was 60,000 more than analysts expected. after three straight months in which less than 100,000 jobs were gained mr. obama took the long view. >> that means we have now created 4.5 million new jobs in the last 29 months. 1.1 million new jobs so far this year. >> the jobless rate rose a tenth of a point. even though fewer people were looking for jobs. at a rally in las vegas, that was the number that mitt

romney seized on. >> it's another hammer blow to the struggling middle class families of america. the president has not had policies that put american families back to work. i do. >> reporter: in fact, no one at the white house was celebrating. average unemployment is still far too high and for hispanics it's 10.3%. while for blacks it's 14.1%. the latest underemployment rate which includes people who stop looking is 15.3%. mr. obama says there is more to do than just reclaim the jobs that were lost during the recession. >> but, also to reclaim the kind of financial security that too many americans have felt was slipping away from them for too long. >> reporter: at a news conference, romney promised to create 12 million jobs in his first term and recalled the 2009, $800 billion stimulus package was supposed to keep the country out of the fix it's in. >> this is the president's administration who said from the beginning if they got their way on the stimulus, they would hold unemployment below 8%. they set the measure. they have not been below 8% since.

>> reporter: romney said the president's policies are to blame and he called the jobless rate a moral failure for as country as prosperous as our own. he outlined a plan that includes tax reform and deficit production. domestic energy production and overturning the affordable care act he says would turn the economy around. mr. obama says romney's regulatory reform would take the country backwards. >> we won't get where we want to be if we go back to policies that helped create the mess in the first place. >> reporter: democrats and republicans were relying on voters to determine which path we take from the recession. every month before the election we learn how much the wait is costing us. shannon? >> shannon: thank you, wendell. all right, take a closer look inside the numbers at who is hiring and why. here is chief washington correspondent james rosen. >> with 38,000 hires last month, the education and health services sector accounted for nearly a quarter of the 163,000 jobs the

u.s. economy added in july. the bureau of labor statistics report showed restaurants and bars having added 30,000 jobs. manufacturing posted gains of 25,000. the best showing since march. retailers, however, hired just 7,000 new workers. >> companies seem a little more willing to hire right now. we're seeing it pretty much across the board. it wasn't any one sector. >> but it is so very cautious. the numbers aren't great. we need numbers north of 00,000 jobs created a month to start to see significant improvement. in terms of the jobless rate. in terms of the overall situation. >> for the year 2012, the number of jobs created per month has averaged 151,000. good enough to keep pace with population growth. >> it's enough to bring the unemployment rate down painfully slowly. better than expected. if we continue at that rate, we would bring the unemployment rate down gradually. >> in a survey of households that produce july 8.3% unemployment rate, the ratio

of employment to population, and rate of participation in the labor force both dropped, pour indicators for any economy. >> one out of seven americans doesn't have a job, isn't looking for a job or can't find a full-time jobs. those are abysmal numbers. >> next tuesday, the bureau of labor statistics will update the survey of job openings and labor turnover. the last numbers covering the month of may showed 3.5 million job openings, down from the good times of mid-2007. but up from the dark days of mid-2009. still, you could be forgiven for wondering why the 3.5 million open jobs in a country where so many people remain desperate for work aren't being filled more swiftly. the answer economists say has to do with the snowball effect. the average length of a person's unemployment is growing longer. in that time, worker stills atrophy and they become inherently less suitable for new jobs. >> it's as a result of the recession and how long it lasted and the more reason to get the unemployment rate down sooner rather than later.

>> among those hardest hit by the non-recovery recovery, veterans. for all veterans dating back to world war ii, the unemployment rate stands at 6.9%. for veterans of the wars in afghanistan and iraq, that figure rises to 8.9%, shannon. higher than the national average. >> shannon: that's disappointing, james. thank you very much. "special report" goes back on the road monday. bret will be at the wood county fair in the key battleground state of ohio. he is going to talk about manufacturing, jobs, the economy, and the drought. that is monday. 6:00 eastern. alabama republican senator jeff sessions asking the head of immigration and customs enforcement for information about the agent facing possible sus specific for refusing to release illegal alien from custody. the veteran agent was ordered to let the man go because he was not considered priority target under the administration's new policy. they say ice officers are not arrested for lawful arrests but maybe for insub board nation.

a similar policy allowser immigrants who same here as children to stay. it means no taxpayer money will be used and applications will be accepted starting august 15. top lawmaker who thinks global warming is the nation's greatest threat. that is later in the grapevine. up next, reid versus romney. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [muc plays] ♪ [music plays] male spirit present.trong it's the priceline negotiator.

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>> shannon: up to a dozen u.s. service members brought women to their hotel rooms in klurooms incolombia before prest obama visited in april. the report says they were probably prostitutes. nine members have been punished so far. back in the country, mitt romney's quest to replace president obama took him to nevada today. the home of one of romney's chief detractors who had been leveling serious allegations. chief congressional correspondent emanuel on the battle against two top democrats. >> with unemployment at 12.6% in las vegas, romney visited a custom truck body company to emphasize his plan to champion small businesses and create 12 million jobs, arguing president obama's policies haven't worked. >> we were down the street a year ago talking about the economy. we have thought things would be better now but they're not. >> after addressing the crowd, reporter asked if the country

is in a recession. >> for the 23 million americans it's a recession. for them,ite knows not worse. >> nevada is home to harry reid who is attacking romney with unsubstantiated allegation that romney hasn't paid ten years of income taxes. >> harry reid has to put up or shut up. who are your sources? >> reid said the most secretive presidential candidate since nixon is coming to ask to be elected president. reid added in short, the message to nevadaens is this. he won't release his taxes but he wants to raise yours. romney says his tax plan is biased and a joke. emphasized this point. >> i will not raise tax on the american people. i will not raise tax on middle income americans. the president's assertion and

his add assertion to the con vary are false. >> he says he has paid uncle sam plenty. >> i have paid taxes every year. and a lot of taxes. harry is simply wrong. that's why i'm apes, for him to give us the names of the people who have put this forward. i wouldn't at all surprised to hear the names are people from the white house, or the obama campaign, who knows where they are coming from? >> romney said reid is trying to change the subject because job numbers are bad and miles per hours are out of work. las vegas did provide romney with an appropriate backdrop to argue for changing course on the economy. shannon? >> shannon: mike emanuel live in las vegas. thanks, mike. >> white house regulatory chief cass sunstein is leaving the organization. white house says $10 billion will be saved in five years with the elimination of old rules. he is returning to the faculty at harvard law school.

congress has left on vacation, although the house and senate technically remain in session. today's health meeting lasted over four minutes. the senate session, about 45 seconds. agriculture secretary tom vilsack says he will do what he can. we are in corn country to look at what it means for crops and your grocery bill. >> if you drive past a cornfield you may not notice a problem but this corn should be way up over my head. it's about half as tall as it should be. the individual ears are not filling in. half of the corn yield in america right now is rated as poor to very poor. midwest farmer rod sharkey says it's too late to even hope for rain. >> look great. the water shut off. we have lost our crop at this point. >> possibly the hardest hit are the livestock.

it's causing decrease in price of meat but you will pay for it in the long run when the supply runs low. before recess, house of representatives passed $383 million drought relief bill to open conservation land for grazing. the senate had its own bill and congress went home leaving the farmers high and dry. oh% of the corn harvested is slated to produce ethanol required by the epa. cause manage to demand the epa ease the mandate and leave the corn supply in the marketplace. sharkey says drought corn develops a tox than makes it unfit for people or livestock. so it is only good for ethanol. he doesn't want help from the government. >> we are pretty self-reliant. we know we will have bad years a and we try to prepare for that. all in all, we're the american farmer. if you leave us alope we'll feed the world. >> price of corn spiked from $5 a bushel a week ago to $8 a bushel today.

since corn is in just about everything you eat, including corn-fed beef it will cost 4% more to put food on the table. back to you. >> shannon: thank you, mike. the government will sell $4.45 billion in stock in american international group. federal reserve spent $182 billion to bail out aig in 2008. this is the fourth round of stock sales. aig owes taxpayers $30 billion. still ahead, the gay kiss-in at chick-fil-a. first, the-up tries to get stuff on syria. will it make any different? [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this,

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>> shannon: checking world headlines, commander of the elite revolutionary guard says the biggest flet to his country is soft war. that usually refers to economic sanctions, espionage and now days computer viruses. the u.n. has had its say on syria. the regime is said to beg russia for loans and oil products amid western sanctions. correspondent david lee miller has the story from the united states. >> as the violence continues to escalate on the syria largest city, the u.n. generally agemably passed resolution to call on the regime to halt bloodshed. >> brutality being reported may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes.

>> saudi arabia sponsored resolution that needed simple majority to pass had 133 yes votes and 12 no votes including russia, china and iran. >> there are horrifying reports about mass killings. rain. executioex -- about mass killin, rape, execution, torture. >> it was a watered down version of earlier draft that called for syrian president to step down. they blasted the revolution and the countries that drafted it. >> it will have no impact whatsoever. this is a piece of theater concocted by the saudis. >> the general assembly resolution took aim at the u.n. itself saying it was

deploring the failure of the security council. the text was a swipe. russia and china that vetoed the security council resolutions that might have resulted in sanctions. >> the security council is blocked. >> despite controversial surrounding the general assembly resolution, one thing is certain. there is no enforcement mechanism in place. what happened here today is nothing more than symbolic. any meaningful change has to take place at the security council which is slated to meet later this month to consider fate of 150 observers on the ground in syria. to extent their mandate or send them home. >> shannon: thank you. western experts cast a wary eye toward extremists as they set up shop in war-torn syria. chief intelligence correspondent catherine

herridge has an update on that. >> reporter: this suicide car bombing last december that bears the signature of al-qaeda in iraq was one of the first clues that the fighters are infiltrating the syrian rebels. the chairman of the house intelligence committee congressman mike rogers says 275 groups make up the syrian opposition. >> we think there is some degree of extremism. some hezbollah and some al-qaeda. >> the car bombings in syria are carbon copies of the ied attacks used by al-qaeda in iraq at the height of the sunni insurgency there. as the border is overwhellalmed by the refugees leaving syria, they are crossing iraq to syria to join the fighting. this week the state department concedeed publicly what has been discussed privately. unless they believe instability will grow and act as magnet for extremists. >> as long as our side refuses to go and the transition is blocked, the danger grows of

foreign fighters, including extremists of the al-qaeda. type, infiltrating syria. >> the direct of the of national intelligence warned congress of the coming storm. >> we believe that al-qaeda in iraq is extending its reach in to syria. >> sources familiar with the intelligence believe extremists on either side of the syria-iraq border are sharing people, resources and information. with years of experience launching attacks in iraq, jihaddists that travel to syria may be small in number but they are experienced and influential. >> a key marker is whether the conflict will attract foreign fighters who might otherwise travel to pakistan or yemen. shannon? >> shannon: catherine herridge, thank you. secretary of state hillary clinton is trying to diffuse

tension between south sudan and counterparts in the north. they are biggers over oil revenue. the south became independent nation a year ago and clin top said a percentage of something is better than a percentage of nothing. north korean leader kim jong un, made his debut as a diplomat. he met with the dig anynarys characterized ace his first official foray to foreign service and affairs since taking over seven months ago. the state department is helping with investigation whether it shipped computers and other equipment to north korea in violation of u.n. sanctions. congressional aides say the legislators from both parties are frustrated by what they are calling the administration musseled approach to the technology transfer. nato wants to be america's next top diplomat, says climate change is america's top threat. guess who is on twitter? instagram. the grapevine is next. most efficient line of luxury hybrids on the road,

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>> shannon: now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. senator john kerry says climate change is as dangerous as threat of the iranian nuclear bomb. he made a speech wednesday. >> table situation we face, is as dangerous as the real crisis that we talked about the day we had hearing on the foreign relations committee on the subject of syria. we know what is happening with respect to iran and nuclear weapons and the possibility of even of a war. >> the massachusetts democrat is vying to be theest in secretary of state is obama is re-elected. profile claiming to be the official c.i.a. twitter handle did trick people to being rea real, until tweets like this popped up --

that account has been removed. the itoia has made himself more acceptable. finally when collins died unexpectedly, his family found specific request in his will. he asked that they, "leave an awesome tip" something like $500 for a pizza. the family set up a blog and raised $50,000. aaron's brother seth colins so far left four, $500 tips and plans to keep doing that as long as the money will last. supporters of gay marriage are protesting chick-fil-a restaurant of the company's support of traditional marriage tonight senior national correspondent john roberts reports from suburban atlanta on what the gay community is calling a kiss-in. >> in the home of chick-fil-a, energetic and peaceful kiss-in.

30 people sealing their disapproval with a kiss. >> i am here because i believe that no one should have the right to try to take my personal rights away. >> sharp contract to wednesday's show of support for chick-fil-a. when thousands of customers pushed the chain to record setting sales. >> i'm a little disappointed. i'm glad that the people who came out came out. >> the message was earlier this week was different. dan cathy expressing view wasn't a problem. but the foundation gave money to organization that campaign against same-sex marriage we are technically welcome in his restaurant, he'll take the money and turn it against us. >> the chick-fil-a staff brought lemonade to the protesters. thanks but no thanks, from the crowd. >> the customers took the kiss-in with an attitude of live and let live. >> since we live in the united

states, we can believe whatever we want to believe. >> such politeness was lacking in california where graffiti scrawled on the chick-fil-a wall. and chief financial of medical company berateed a financial cashier. he posted his tirade on youtube. was promptly fired. across the country attitude toward same-sex marriage are evolving. a new pew poll finds 48% of people in favor. support is highest among democrats at 65%. this >> this is the last thing left. black and whites weren't allowed to marry 40 years ago. this will take a little time. >> between the chick-fil-a demonstrations, the plapping of the dnc flat form and opposition from the black pastors, same-sex marriage is shaping up to a potent web issue in the fall campaign. who could have predicted the flash point would be a chicken sandwich? shannon? >> shannon: john, thank you very much.

the tennessee democratic party disavowing the nomination of the u.s. senate candidate. they say mark clayton is a member of a hate group. vice president of public advocate of the united states. it calls himself conservative advocacy group and he received twice the vote of the nearest competitor in thursday's primary. we'll talk about the obama campaign lawsuit over military voting rights in one key state when the fox all-stars join us next. [ dad ] i'm usually checking up on my kids. but last year my daughter was checking up on me.

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any effort to impede right of the military members overseas or domestically voting would be extraordinary violation of the trust we should have for those who serve valiantly. >> shannon: that was mitt romney today responding to filing of a lawsuit of the obama campaign in ohio that deals with early voting that gives special preference to military folks and their family. here is what the obama campaign manager had to say. he said along with the dnc and democratk party they filed a lawsuit to establish equal early voting rights for all ohioans, writes the republican controlled legislature arbitrarily stripped away this past year. talk about it with the panel. steve hayes, senior writer if the "weekly standard." susan milligan editor for u.s. news and world report. and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. welcome. happy friday. good to see you.

steve, it's an interesting lawsuit. equal protection clause. why should the military get three extra days of early voting rights? >> we can come up with a number of reasons why the military might deserve three extra days of early voting rights but to me the bigger problem is philosophical. you have an administration that had since the beginning given preferences to one group or another depending if they support the president. you had the uaw get jumped up in front of other shareholders when they did the auto bail-out. the stimulus package that gave preferences to green energy companies. you had unions and other celebrity groups that have gotten preferences and exceptions for the healthcare law. it seems you have it consistently all along. now the extra three days for military to vote in ohio, that is too much? we need to file a lawsuit? that is a problem. >> shannon: do you think they'll succeed in legal

grounds. >> i don't think anybody is saying we don't appreciate what the military does abroad. there are also aid workers and journalists living there. but this is a rough road to talk about two different classes of people in terms of voting. if we talk about democracy, everybody's vote the is same. early voting is great for everybody. it means turn-out is better. politicians have to listen to everybody, instead of just those who turn out to vote. dangerous road. >> shannon: what about the optics of this. if we think to the 2000 election and a gore and attorneys on his behalf were circulating a memo that showed how to discredit military ballots overseas and potential problems with them. that backfireed. >> similarly the optics are terrible now.

the military would be given extra time. the time is far more restric restricted. where they can go, when they can go and how they can go than a civilian. they're doing it in the service of the country. often at great risk. you don't have 9:00 to 5:00. but this is a larger evident to win the election in the courts. the democrat are trying to channel every law on voter i.d. which we know is being implemented. the reason we're trying to pass the laws we want to eliminate felons, illegal aliens and dead people from casting a ballot. it could make a difference in razor thin margin like

florida. in ohio they are hoping for slim margin to restrict vote of the military which everyone understands would be heavily or weighted toward the republicans. >> shannon: knowing how this would look if you are looking to limit the military's idea to vote does it say ohio is tough for nip to win? >> yes, this is a sign of how intense the fight willing be. you are having the kind of fights elsewhere. >> you had previously acceptance for the military. you made accommodations for military to vote absentee and other things. i don't think it's a problem for extra exception. not like others aren't going to be able to vote or can't

vote early. they just can't vote between friday and monday. that's reasonable accommodation for people serving the country. >> what do you think, though? the legal challenge, we are talking about for most early voters. >> do you say it's the way we vote to make it easier for making it to vote? >> i live abroad and i was amazed how foolishly we do things here. we have it on a tuesday. in the days before early voting and you had to be out on tuesday and go to the poll in the times it was open. it's hard for people. anything to get people out to vote i think is good but it's dicey to talk about classes of voters. you open the door to something

more dangerous. >> do you think the voters in ohio will be swayed by the lawsuit? >> the courts will probably uphold the law as is, to find it's reasonable extension to give to the military. surely democrats are on the wrong side politically. it won't dominate the election when you have 8% unemployment. but again, we are talking about the margins here. you remember what happened in florida where you could win or lose by 600 people. will it sway 600 ohioans that the obama administration isn't willing to give an extra break to the military? i could. it could well do that. >> shannon: both candidates spent a lot of time there. nine visits by the president. now heading to the general as well. why do you think romney hasn't been doing better in ohio? >> good question. this is a reflective of the broader upper midwest. the place you make an argument

that appeals to white working class, set of voters across the upper midwest. romney criticizing the job record hasn't connected. the president by contrast played up the auto bail-out in northern ohio, this seems to resonate for him. >> shannon: susan on military voting in ohio, do you think it's safe to assume they'll automatically do better with the military? >> not necessarily. a lot of people in the military are african-american. and obama does better among the voter group. you can't assume anything. >> why would the administration oppose it? on principle i doubt it. >> you don't think it's a principle fight? >> they tend to act more on what will help them win than a broad constitutional ideas. that is a bit of a stretch and perhaps unfair. but i'll stick with that statement. >> you think it's true of voter i.d. cases as well? >> that is nakedly political.

it's hard to make a serious argument against requiring somebody to show at the polls what you're required to do if you want to get onen airplane, drive a car or enter in the department of justice building itself in washington. clearly an attempt to scare and say republicans are racism. it's a way to make it easier for whom they think would vote democrat nick a way that's not exactly legal. >> shannon: we'll follow those legal fights and ohio as well. up next, the friday lightning round. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people

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every week viewers vote for your choice online in our friday lightning round poll. this week, the romney taxing aization won with 33% of the vote. before we start our discussion, let's have the back and forth. >> the word is out he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove he has paid taxes, because he hasn't. >> harry reid has to put up or shut up. harry, who are your sources? let's have harry explain who that is. by the way, harry, i understand what you are trying to do. trying to reflect that job numbers are bad. >> shannon: by the way, romney did go on to say in his statement it was patently false and it's wrong, he paid taxes, he said a lot of taxes. charles, is this more pressure to get him to release the returns? >> yes, it is. but when the leader of the senate begins an accusation with the word is out, it's beyond appalling. it's disgusting, which is a word you ought to use rarely

in politics. it's the worst kind of demagoguery where he makes an accusation without any basis whatsoever on a blind source he won't tell us about and say you prove it and deny it. that is the lowest common politics. the reason it's disgusting because it's actually effective. it puts romney on the defensive. it's lose-lose if you're romney. he is talking about taxes, which is exactly what reid had intended. in response to a baseless accusation. it works. that's why it's so bad. >> shannon: but does this gain sympathy points for romney? >> i would think so. i was astonished when i saw that. this is a powerful issue for the democrats. it's not going to move a lot of votes. people wonder why we have one year, we'll get another year. there is a sense that there is a sense he doesn't want people to see. i'd be surprised if he paid no taxes. it suspect he may, i suspect -- i shouldn't say that. maybe he didn't pay as much in taxes because he legally took

advantage of legal tax breaks or that he was getting paid by bain when he wasn't said he wasn't, something he doesn't want people to know. i'm sure, i can't imagine it was illegal or no taxes. but to come out and say word on the street is whatever, it's an overreach. it looks reckless. it looks like rumor mongering. we've seen enough of this frankly from our profession. and other people at much lower level at politics for the senate majority leader to go on the floor of thenate and say something like that without backing it up, i think undermines what could have been one of the democrats' most powerful weapons against romney. >> but it has us talking about his taxes. >> harry reid is disgrace. you expect this from harry reid. he does this kind of thing. he's a politician. that's what you expect. the disconcerning cohort in this is journalists. i was watching another network -- i know. i was. every once in a while -- >> doing research. >> my satellite was out, i

couldn't get fox. it saw another network anchor ask a romney is up poster about this accusation -- supporter about this accusation saying harry reid is an honorable man. you should answer this. by the way, one way to set the question for mitt romney to put his taxes out. that is exactly what that kind of a baseless absurd charge is going to bring about. he is having to answer questions about it all day. ridiculous. >> shannon: i want to make sure we get to the other topic. move to jobs numbers. 163,000 jobs added but the unemployment rate ticked up as well. quickly, steve, your reaction. 8.3% now. >> the rate, to the extent people are paying attention to this specifically and at this time, the rate doesn't help. but i was struck by president obama's comments today. he gave a speech and he said what we need to do is modest raise of taxes for the top 2%. and then a moment later he said by doing just this tiny increase of the top 2%, we'll save $1 trillion. we're going to help resolve our debt issues. you can't make those arguments

in consecutive paragraphs. >> shannon: the white house today said we are talking about 29 months of consecutive private job growth. there are positives there. >> there. are i found when i travel around the country people have an idea what the economy feels like and it's set in their mind. i was in ohio. unemployment rate is lower than average. people are really distraught. i was in nevada the unemployment rate was astronotticly high. i wouldn't say they're upbeat but they have a homesteader attitude out there. more of a hey, i lost $3,000 but another slot machine. people just are more ready to start over there. i think because they are newer, you know, residents of the state. the rate itself isn't necessarily determinant. it's just how people feel about the economy. that's pretty much set by labor day. this year it might be set earlier. >> shannon: charles, we can get to topic three. >> the rate itself is not the key. it's the rate of change. it's going in the wrong direction. it rose. that is what i think hurts obama. the chief economist of credit

suisse said to the "new york times" today this is the worst recovery ever, including during the great depression. he said if you aren't scared by that, you don't know what is going on. pretty heavy, as we used to say. >> shannon: it's always nice to have someone who is fluent in french on a panel as well. time topic, the gsa scandal -- it was very nice. rolls off the tongue. the gsa scandal and the fact there may be 77 additional event conferences that they will investigate. steve, how do they dig out of this? >> it's an incredible story. the funny thing is, the big picture political impact, this is, you know, you're not talking about a ton of money. i mean all of it is big money but relative to the 15 15.7 trillion-dollar debt not a lot of money. you are talkingbout a culture. the fact they are so oblivious to how it looks to taxpayers is truly extraordinary. >> suzeen? >> yeah. it couldn't agree more. i can't say it better than steve. it gives a black eye to sort

of government workers in general. unfortunate, because a lot of people working in government, work very hard and do a great job. this is just appalling. >> it hurts democrats, deserved or not, because the democrats are the party of government. everyone knows you have to cut spending. democrats speak about raising taxes. you hear about this. you think they are barking up the wrong tree. >> shannon: an appearance by agent "x," whoever that may be. thank you very much. stay tuned for a special message for our own bret baie baier. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [muc plays]

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>> shannon: finally tonight, bret is taking a much needed day off after taking the show on the road to the west coast this week. his staff thought it was the perfect opportunity to gather some warm wishes for him as he celebrates his birthday tomorrow. happy birthday, bret. >> hey, bret, while you're not here and you are out celebrating your birthday, i'm here in your office and i have got everything under very tight control. >> happy birth day, bret, i am told this is your 42nd birthday which is kind of a coincidence because this tie 42 years old. >> happy birthday to my tv husband. >> on behalf of power play and the entire internet, happy birthday, mr. baier. >> now that we know it's your birthday, we can understand why you have been out of the studio this week, you know,

reporting in las vegas. >> don't forget, share the cake with us. >> doug, i don't think you are going to ever look that perfect. >> happy birthday, bret. >> have a birthday that is fair, balanced, and unafraid. >> happy birthday from the "special report." >> shannon: by the way, we could not fit in all the birthday wishes so go online to the daily bret.com for the complete version and trust us, it is even funnier. don't forget bret baier post birthday will be in wood county, ohio on monday talking to voters in that very important swing state. that's it for "special report" tonight. i'm shannon bream. good night from washington. >> this is the fox report. tonight, a mixed bag from the july's job number. some companies are hiring, so why is the unemployment rate

still rising? we'll explain. plus, the most decorated olympic athlete in history goes for the gold one more time. >> bill: he has done it over and over again, 20 medals so far and today, he went looking for his final individual gold of these olympic games and possibly of his career. tonight, the results of michael phelps' latest attempt at rewriting the record books. baseball legend cal ripken jr. now talking about what it was like when somebody kidnapped his mother at gunpoint. >> it was the worst feeling you can imagine. >> and now he wants help finding the guy who took her. >> the investigation is moving along. >> tonight, the hall of famer and the mystery of his mother's abduction. plus, private entrepreneurs looking to get into the space race. >> right now we are working on a new space suit to market

towards new commercial space industry. >> it's a start of a new era in space exploration. >> tonight, reaching for the stars and trying to turn a profit into business of space. but we begin tonight with word that the u.s. unemployment rate has moved in the wrong direction. i'm bill hemmer, in tonight for shepard smith. good evening. the labor department reports today the jobless rate rose from 8.3% in july. that's up a tenth of a point from the month before. here is a chart he showing how the rate has risen over the years. you can see back in 2007, before the recession hit, the unemployment rate was under a%. but for the last few years, we have been holding steady at greater than 8%. in today's rise, in that unemployment rate came even as the labor department reports u.s. employers made 163,000 new hires last month alone. that's the highest rate that number has been in five months. the news sent stocks soaring today. dow was up 217. nasdaq gai58